摘要
For decades,the self-assembly of colloidal nanocrystals has been pursued as a route to fabricating functional materials with tailored optical,electronic,and mechanical properties.Conventional studies typically relied on highly symmetric and convex particles(e.g.,spherical quantum dots[1]and polyhedral noble metal nanocrystals[2]),which,while offering simplicity,impose intrinsic limits on the degree of directional control achievable during assembly.As a consequence,constructing low-symmetry,low-density lattices with novel topological features has remained a formidable challenge.Now writing in Science,Dong and colleagues[3]achieved a monumental leap in self-assembly superlattices by employing nonconvex,dumbbell-shaped lanthanide fluoride colloidal nanocrystals(nanodumbbells)as an experimental model(Fig.1).
